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Friday, January 31, 2014

Today is the
Chinese New Year and from today begins the Year of the Horse. The Chinese
follow a lunar calendar and each year is dedicated to an animal. The
association of animals to the years is based on an interesting legend.

According to the
Chinese mythology, once the Jade Emperor (the emperor in heaven) decided to
call all the animals to his place to designate the years based on them. Only
twelve animals responded to the call and priority was given according to their
arrival at the finishing line what went on to be referred to as The Great Race.
These animals were rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster,
dog, and pig.

In those days
the cat and the rat were good friends! Since the cat was a late riser, it requested
the rat to wake him up so that they could start early together. However, in the
morning the rat was too excited about the race and forgot to wake up his friend,
the cat. On the way, the rat met the tiger and the other animals like the
horse, etc. who were much faster than himself. The rat worked a way out to
reach faster than the other animals. The ox was an honest and straightforward
animal. The rat approached the ox and wanted to know if it could hitchhike on
it. The ox agreed provided the rat sang all the way. The two crossed the river
and reached first and just when the ox thought that it had arrived first, the
rat jumped ahead of the ox and was declared first!

The tiger came
in next followed by the rabbit who had hopped all the way and over a floating
log. The dragon followed the rabbit and came fifth. When the emperor expressed
his surprise at the dragon coming late as it could both swim and fly, the
dragon explained that on the way it found a place which was suffering from
drought, so it stopped for a moment to make rains and save the people from
dying. The Emperor was happy to learn that and ranked it the fifth. (Dragons
are rain-causing animals according to the Chinese mythology.) Some versions say
that the dragon breathed hard on the log carrying the rabbit, so that the log
reached the shore!

The horse
galloped all the way and even swam the river, but didn’t realise that the
wicked snake was hiding in its hoof. At the finishing line, the snake jumped
off the hoofs and seeing the snake, the horse jumped back in surprise and thus
the snake was ranked ahead of the horse who came seventh. The ram, the monkey
and the rooster took a raft and reached together and were ranked in the eighth,
ninth and tenth positions. The dog came in eleventh as it had stopped by the
river for a bath and the pig was sleeping till late and thus came in last, i.e.
twelfth.

The cat was too
late and was very upset with the rat for not waking him up and since then it became
the sworn enemy of the rat! The other animals either didn’t try or lost out
since the race was over land and water and some of them couldn’t pass through
both. One version says that the elephant tried, but gave up the race when the
rat went inside its trunk!

Many later
versions of the above myth, ascribe the race to Buddha instead of the Jade
Emperor, due to the influence of Buddhism, however what is important is that
the story of the animals remains the same.

It is said that
each year is dedicated to an animal and it started with the year of the rat.
According to the Chinese, people born in that year, tend to bear the
characteristics of that animal. The Chinese astrology further divides each day
into twelve two-hour zones which is further ascribed to each of the animals
mentioned above.

Scholars have
interpreted this animal theory based on the famous

Yin-Yang theory. According
to Hong Xun (960 - 1279), out of the twelve animals, the rat, tiger, dragon,
monkey and the dog have five toes. Five is an odd number and belongs to the Yang
side which is positive. The horse has one toe, again odd number and thus Yang
again. The other animals all have toes of even number and thus belong to the Yin
side which is negative. The snake does not have a toe, but its tongue is forked
and thus has two ends, making it even again. Thus if you observe closely the
animals have been arranged in the Yin and Yang order!

The Chinese
celebrate the New Year by burning crackers and lighting red lanterns. The
origin of this custom too is ascribed to an interesting legend. According to
this legend, once there lived a deadly giant by the name of Nian deep in the
sea and at the end of the year would come on earth and feed on human beings. To
avoid being devoured by the giant, people would go up the mountains and hide.
The giant would destroy everything on earth and leave if it didn’t find anybody
to eat.

Once an old man
came to them and requested them not to leave as he would take care of the giant,
if he was allowed to stay just one night. People tried to dissuade him from
staying the night as it was the night of Nian’s arrival, but the old man would
not listen. The people, not having faith in the old man, left for the
mountains.

That night when
the demon came, he was greeted with loud firecrackers and red lights which
scared the demon away. Next day when the people came down, they saw that their
homes were intact and the old man had left. But they found the remnants of the
crackers and red lanterns. Since then, the Chinese burst firecrackers and adorn
their homes with red lanterns and since then it was celebrated as the Passing of Nian, as ‘nian’ in Chinese
means year.

Here’s wishing
all my Chinese friends a very happy New Year and may the Year of the Horse
bring in all the positive aspects of the animal!!

Saturday, January 25, 2014

The
recent ‘protest’ by the CM of Delhi has been called names, chief among them
being ‘anarchy’. The CM is accused to have driven the state to an anarchical
state by leading the protest. Friends and foes were up in arms about the means
and the unconventional modus operandi of the protest. How can the CM force an
established system to change ways? Are the state and its CM beyond the purview
of the constitution? Has he not violated the constitution by taking his protest
public when his prime job is to quash all public protests, which could have led
to violence?

(Pic Courtesy - NDTV.com)

I
am appalled to say the least when I heard and read the ‘learned’ make such
comments in such pompous and holier-than-thou attitude and words which were
quite a mouthful, meanings for many made me scamper towards the dictionary. I
am not learned enough to understand the jargon and matters around the
Constitution, Republic, etc. I don’t know much about Governance as I have seen
more of the lack of it, so let me refrain from commenting on the
9pm-intelligentsia.

But
what is beyond me is the raising of perfectly threaded eyebrows to certain
issues. What are people upset with – is it David unsettling the Goliaths or the
unconventional means of protest? As far as the confrontation of the fledgling
political outfit of a David with the established political parties with all the
paraphernalia at their beck and call – the world has seen the outcome and
people are rejoicing at some glimmer of hope on the horizon. We have seen many instances
of overconfident giants being relegated to defeat by relatively unknown or minor
entities who stood no chance prior to the confrontation.

What
baffles me the most is the hue and cry on the unconventional method of protest.
Since childhood, we have been exposed to many unconventional methods of protest
and none have bothered to question them.

When
Gandhiji first mooted the idea of burning the ‘passes’, an obligatory
identification document for all non-South African citizens in Johannesburg,
wasn’t that against their constitution? When he further advised people to
protest non-violently, wasn’t that unconventional? When he advised equality of
all castes, wasn’t that against the then social order? When he suggested
protests by burning all foreign imports, wasn’t that against law of the land? I
can go on, but what is important to realize is that it was exactly these
unconventional methods of protest that ushered in a change and need I mention,
change for good.

Mythology
too is witness to many an unconventional methods of protest. Sati jumped into
the sacrificial fire to protest against her husband, Shiva’s insult. Today people
will call it suicide, but then it was unconventional even for the gods, and it
was so disturbing to Shiva that he literally lost his cool! In Ramayana,
towards the end, when Rama is united with his sons, it was hinted to Sita that
she should prove her chastity once again. Sita protested against the unfairness
and decided to find refuge in Mother earth than submit. Wasn’t this an
unconventional protest for a woman who had stood by every said and unsaid norm
of the then society? Didn’t she question the laid down societal norm or
convention?

Conventions
lead to status-quo and a state of complacency for any establishment. While the
unconventional disturbs the fabric of order, it does set in new rules of the
game. Martin Luther King had once said, "One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people
fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has
its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are
notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on
our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to
face the challenge of change."

While
the ‘protectors of status quo’ are up
in arms, I am sincerely hoping that ‘fraternities
of the indifferent’ will rise to the occasion, since ‘our very survival’ depends on our ability to accept this ‘challenge of change’.

While
I am not holding a brief for the new David on the block, I do think that the
nation needs a revolution. We need a change and change is what we need.

When
a child is born, it causes unimaginable pain to the woman, but is the most
joyous moment for the mother. On this Republic
Day, we as citizens of India need to take a call, we want to endure like
the woman in pain or enjoy like the joyous mother – a little discomfort
notwithstanding.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

In
the previous part we read about the love story of Nala Damayanti, how they met,
married and separated and met again to live happily ever after.

Let us look at
the significance of this tale and its placement from a narrative perspective.

When
Yudhishtir had lost his kingdom and he was sent to exile for thirteen years
along with his four brothers and Draupadi, he was suffering from extreme
self-pity. He could not reconcile with what he had done and how his actions had
led to the pitiable state of his brothers and wife. It was important to bring
him out of the self-pity mode and have him overcome this grief, which was being
made evident in his brother’s eyes and Draupadi’s untied hair.

While
in exile Sage Bhardwaj comes to meet the Pandavs and in his moment of
self-pity, Yudhishtir asks the sage, if there was any king before him, who was
as unfortunate like him, who had lost his kingdom and everything and was driven
out to exile. He felt that there was none as unfortunate as him and though he
followed the path of Dharma, he was in such a sorry state. It is at this stage
that the sage tells him this story and makes him realize that he was still
better off, as he had his brothers and his wife with him, while Nala was all
alone.

The
similarities between Nala and Yudhishtir were quite striking. Both had
beautiful wives, both had a weakness for the dice and both were not very good
at it and both lost their kingdoms in the game of dice. In the case of
Yudhishtir, the dice were doctored by Shakuni and in the case of Nala, Kali had
played foul. At the end of the game, both are driven to exile, while Nala spent
twelve years in exile, Yudhishtir had an additional year.

Nala
became the charioteer of the King of Ayodhya and Yudhishtir became the personal
assistant of King Virata. What is equally significant is that during exile both
Nala and Yudhishtir master the skill of playing dice with the respective kings
that they were serving. Nala’s disfigurement could be seen as similar to the
last year of disguise that Yudhishtir had to undertake while serving King
Virat, just as Draupadi was serving the Queen in disguise similar to Damayanti
serving the Queen without their knowledge of who the two ladies were.

It
is said that when Nala lost everything at the game of dice, his brother had
suggested that he stake Damayanti, but Nala declined. While here Nala differs
from Yudhishtir, Nala still does stake Damayanti later. Both do stake their
wives, one out of sheer desperation, while the other out of confidence; one
when his was weak while the other when he was strong in the game.

According
to Dr. Pradip Bhattacharya, a prolific writer on Mahabharata, the tales have an
important difference. The tale of Nala Damayanti is a pure romance with all the
romantic trappings. It stands out to be a stark difference from the original
flow of the epic, especially in the treatment of Damayanti and Draupadi. While
Draupadi’s character is strong and determined, Damayanti comes out as a soft
and a quiet woman, thought she occasionally does display the typical traits of
a ‘Vyasan’ woman, like when she refuses the gods to marry Nala. This could be a
case of the story being told by a young Vyasa! The initial wooing through a
swan, the magical powers of Nala the pining of Damayanti, are all a case of a
classic romantic tale and that sure does make a significant diversion from an
otherwise mature tale of the Pandav’s in the epic.

The
tale of Nala Damayanti has been rewritten in many forms as standalone romance
and I too came across the tale as a romantic story that warmed the cockles of
my (then young) heart!!

But
as I mentioned at the beginning of the article, one shouldn’t miss the
significance and the positioning of the story in the epic, which had its own
rationale in the narrative.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

The story of Nala Damayanti was
probably the first mythological story I read as a child, way back (really way
back!). For me, then, it was a simple love story from mythology. A recent
reading however, turned out to be much more than a simple love story. But first
the story.

Nala
was a well known and a handsome ruler of Nishadh region. Damayanti was the
princess of

Vidarbha and was known for her beauty and virtues. Once Nala caught
a golden swan, but before he could do anything, the swan cried out asking for
his life to be saved and in return, it would sing praises of Nala to Damayanti
and make her fall in love with him. Damayanti was well known for her beauty and
it was rumored that even gods wanted to wed her. Nala released the swan. The
swan went over to the palace of Damayanti and sang praises of Nala, as to how
he was the most handsome man on earth and so on. Soon the swan became the
carrier of messages and to cut short the story, both fell in love with each
other, without having met in person.

Soon
Damayanti’s father decided to hold her swayamvar,
to which kings from far and near were invited, including Nala. On the way to
the swayamvar, Nala met the gods,
Indra, Agni, Varuna and Yama and they insisted that he ought to convey to
Damayanti and she should select any one of them for a husband. Nala tried to
decline, but was forced to do so. Nala communicated the message to Damayanti,
but she was determined that she would choose Nala only.

When
Damayanti came with the garland to choose her husband, she noticed that there
were five of them looking like Nala, as the four gods had decided to change
their appearances, to confuse Damayanti. Damayanti understood that this was a
ploy by the gods, but she also knew that man was not perfect like the gods.
Some versions say, that she noticed drops of sweat on one of them, and thus
knew that that was Nala, while some versions say that the real Nala was the
only one blinking his eyes. Anyways, Damayanti got married to Nala and the rest
departed.

While
the gods were leaving, they came across a demon by the name of Kali (also a
personification of the Kali-yuga), who was late for the swayamvar and was both
angry and disappointed to know that Damayanti had selected Nala. He could not
bear to hear this and decided to avenge this insult!

Nala
had one weakness and that was playing dice. While he was not very good at it,
he could not resist playing the game. After Nala’s father’s death, he had
become the King and conducted Ashwamedha
Yagna and expanded his kingdom. Nala’s younger brother was getting jealous
of Nala’s fame. Seeing an opportunity, Kali instigated his brother to challenge
Nala in a game of dice. His lack of expertise in the game, but the addiction to
play on, cost Nala of everything that he possessed and was soon banished from
the kingdom with his wife. All this aided by Kali who had taken the form of the
dice, unknown to both the brothers.

Nala
and Damayanti sent their children to Damayanti’s father, and left the kingdom
without anything, except the clothes that they wearing. One day, Nala’s
loincloth too was taken way by the birds when he was trying to use it to
ensnare them. They were left with Damayanti’s saree to cover them, which
limited their movements. It was nearly three days since they had last eaten any
food and Nala realized that it was unfair to have Damayanti suffer because of
him. He urged Damayanti to leave him and stay with his father, but Damayanti
would not hear about it and wanted to stay with him and bear the hardships
together. Nala realized that she would never leave him and things would only
get worse as time went by.

One
night when they were sleeping, Nala tore off a portion of the saree to cover
himself and left her alone at night, hoping Damayanti would join her father.
When Nala was going his way, he found a snake on top of a tree which had caught
fire. Nala saved the snake and as soon as it was out of danger, it bit him
which changed Nala into a dark and hunchbacked person. A surprised Nala
wondered if this was the way, the snake preferred to repay his kindness. The
snake said that it had bitten him for his own safety. The changed look would
act as a disguise for him enabling him to get some work, as none would hire
Nala as he was. The snake also gave him an ornament, which would bring him back
to his original form by wearing it whenever he wished to.

When
Damayanti woke up and found herself alone, she was disturbed. As she started
walking, she came across a demon who tried to attack her. When Damayanti
bravely resisted the demon, the demon showed his true self as a god, who was testing
her. The god blessed her and told her that she would unite with her husband
after twelve years. Damayanti did not go to her father’s place but took up the
job of the queen’s maid at a nearby kingdom. Nala too found a job as a charioteer
to King Rituparna of Ayodhya.

Many
years passed and Damayanti’s father found Damayanti and brought her home. He
decided to hold a swayamvar for his
daughter once again. The king that Nala was serving decided to attend the swayamvar and brought Nala along with
him. At the swayamvar, Nala wore the
ornament given to him by the snake and assumed his original looks and was thus
garlanded by Damayanti. Later Nala challenged his brother to another game of
dice luring him with the promise that he was willing to stake Damayanti if he
accepted the challenge. Nala had by now become adept at the game of dice, which
he had mastered by playing with King Rituparna. In the game of dice, he managed
to defeat his brother and gain everything back.

The
above is probably the most unromantic version of a supposedly romantic tale
from the Mahabharat and the reader needs to pardon me for that! Also, it is a
brief version with lot of juicy details left out. What is important about this
tale is the timing of this tale being told and to who and why.

We
will look into that in the second part of this article. Keep reading......

The above pictures are of the "Nala Damayanti" series of paintings by Raja Ravi Varma, Wikipedia.

About Me

Utkarsh has qualifications in Mythology, both Indian and World from Mumbai University. He is also a faculty on the subject of Comparative Mythology, at the Mumbai University, India. Utkarsh is also a regular trainer and lecturer on varying subjects at private organisations and educational institutions.

Utkarsh has more than 2 decades of experience in Sales and Business Development of IT products and solutions. He has worked with some of the well known IT organisations, some being start-ups, in India. Utkarsh is also a regular trainer and lecturer on varying subjects at private organisations and educational institutions.

Besides his Blog he is also a content provider to a few portals on similar subjects. Some of his short stories have been published in the well known literary story Blog, called LITIZEN. Utkarsh has also written a book on the subject of mythological-fiction, and working on another one, both of which are expected to be published in the next few months.